Ravi Shankar Prasad On The Benefits Of Having Simultaneous Elections

Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said simultaneous elections will bring stability in the electoral process of the nation and save public money.

He said, “Frequent elections lead to expenditure of public money, posting of officers from outside and governance suffers. Our democracy is 70 years old there should be some stability in electoral process. Let’s await recommendations of law commission.”

The Law Commission on July 7 and 8 will hold consultations with all major political parties to discuss the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections.

In April, the Commission had stated that simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies could be held in two phases from 2019, provided that at least two provisions of the Constitution are amended and ratified by a majority of the states.
Union Minister Arun Jaitley also reiterated the need for simultaneous elections to be conducted in the country, adding that this would be good for India.

“From both a governance and expenditure point of view, to have two to three elections every year is a serious challenge. If elections are held every five years, India will see comfortable governance at the centre and state, and better policy formulation, besides lesser expenditure,” he said.